The Mystery of Aura
by Avalon Huntress
Summary: Immediately upon Ash's return to Kanto, tragedy strikes and a long string of menacing catastrophes unleash. Left with no other choice, Ash, his friends and G-men have to accept his destiny as the world's Chosen One. He learns the truth of his legendary legacy and the secrets of aura as he embarks on the ultimate path to becoming a Pokémon master. AU after Kalos.
1. Prologue

At the top of the shrine stood a petite but imposing lady with long dark hair, wearing a scarlet velvet dress and a satin masquerade mask. Her body was covered in shimmering decorative chains and she held a sacred golden staff in her hand. With a casual glance to her left she saw several dozen grunts running towards where she was. With a disinterested sigh, she merely grabbed the three legendary orbs they were after, handing them to her trusty Ditto, satisfied when the Ditto morphed itself to fit seamlessly into the material of her dress, precious swallowed orbs included.

"Well, I think I've successfully thwarted their mission. They'll be leaving Shamouti Island as soon as they realize that they'll never find Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno since I sent Absol to inform them. And of course, they won't be able to summon Lugia once we take care of them," The lady said with a smirk.

"Such a pity, that we've one upped some of the world's worst kind of criminals," Her Zoroark said sarcastically and the lady broke into laughter. Zoroark was her oldest partner. Their personalities were almost identical, they had won wars together, they had killed together, saved the day together and they continued to do everything together. In her line of work, it was helpful to have a partner that was one of the world's most skilled illusionists.

"Hey you," The blonde haired girl, who seemed to be their leader, called. The dark lady felt Mewtwo squirm uncomfortably in the Pokéball that she had ordered him into. She remembered Mewtwo expressing his passionate hate for all the humans who wore that dreaded red 'R' on their shirts. Based off of his wolfish grin, the lady knew Zoroark had recognized them from the horrific stories they had heard as well.

"Should I distract them with an illusion mistress?" Zoroark asked loyally.

"I think I rather have a little fun. I think battling all one hundred of them will be a good warm up for the training I'll be putting you through today," The dark lady replied with a feral grin. "I'll just sit back and watch you fight," She told Zoroark. "You don't mind do you?" The lady asked the droopy eyed Slowking that stood in the middle of the shrine.

"Not at all Sister of Arceus," The Slowking replied.

"Don't you know who we are? We're going to slaughter you and your Pokémon. Or… you could simply give us the orbs," Domino shouted, driven even more furious by the lady's lack of concern for the predicament she found herself in. Surely one hundred well trained Team Rocket agents would be enough to trouble this lady since even a hundred would worry a Champion.

The dark lady cocked her head to the side, contemplating whether or not she should answer, before shrugging and waving at Zoroark to begin his onslaught. Hyper Beam after Hyper Beam struck true, knocking out the one hundred fighting highly skilled Team Rocket agents like they were nothing.

 _Impossible, why doesn't it need to recharge after Hyper Beam? This is unreal. Must report back to Giovanni,_ Domino thought right before she was knocked out by Zoroark.

The dark lady snickered, eyeing the blood and bodies that littered the beach, some dead and some knocked out. The dark lady didn't feel any sympathy. She could sense their hearts and so could Zoroark. They spared the ones who still remained partially good while the corrupt were wiped out completely.

"You should've held back a little Zoroark. That didn't even last a minute," The dark lady chastised with a little laugh.

"Sorry mistress but I needed to let out some pent up tension since you've been making me hold back for centuries," Zoroark retorted, smoothing his inky black fur with his sharp claws.

The dark lady chuckled at her partner's need for immaculate physical perfection.

"Well I guess they wanted these orbs," The lady mused. "Well then I guess I'll give them what they want. Temporarily of course… think of it as a consolation prize," She cackled prettily, levitating up three smooth rocks with her mind. "Zoroark a long term illusion please. Make these three spheres look like the orbs. Maintain it for a few days, long enough for them to think they've succeeded and feel the humiliation of being duped."

Zoroark nods and does as the lady asks with a sadistic grin of pleasure. Zoroark loved mind games even more than his mistress, and that was saying something.

The lady nodded briskly, levitating the three illusion orbs in place of where the originals belonged in the shrine.

"Well, I'll be bringing these to their new hiding place. You should make yourself scarce when the Team Rocket grunts wake up. We wouldn't want you to get caught up in the backlash of their fury. Of course, I know you can handle them but let's keep that a secret for now," The lady told Slowking with a kind smile. She had known this Slowking for centuries and just like she had asked of him, he had stayed to guard the shrine.

"Of course Sister of Arceus," Slowking said slowly.

"Oh don't call me that," The lady said.

Zoroark barked a laugh. "You have too many names! The poor thing doesn't know what to call you."

"Rin will do," The lady said wistfully.

"Of course Queen Rin," Slowking nodded emphatically.

The lady looked at him carefully, gauging to see if he needed anything else. After a few moments, when Slowking didn't even blink, the lady figured she could depart now, though she contemplated waiting until the criminals woke up again just so she could beat them down again, but she figured her little ploy with the orbs would provide a sufficient amount of torture without wasting more of her time.

 _You'd think that living since the beginning of time would be a cause of boredom and yet every year, I find myself even busier,_ the lady thought exasperatedly, calling out her faithful and deliciously brutal Hydreigon. Zoroark and the lady mounted on top of Hydreigon, who growled disappointedly when he saw the knocked out bodies and realized he had missed out on the long awaited fight he had been craving for.

"One more thing my queen," Slowking interjected politely just as Hydreigon was about to take off. "You must find the human Chosen One for he and his friends will be able to help you greatly. You will even find what you most seek."

The lady nodded in acknowledgement, familiar with Slowking and his accurate prophecies.

Slowking watched the powerful lady and her ruthless but kindhearted Pokémon companions disappear into the night sky, vaguely hearing Hydreigon's roar of triumph before they disappeared completely from his psychic radar. Usually Slowking only received visits from the Queen every century or so but this time he had a feeling he'd be seeing her sooner rather than later. Closing his eyes, Slowking recited the prophecy he had sensed a few hours prior.

"Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice or lightning, lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash. Through the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song will fail, thus the Earth shall turn to ash. Oh, Chosen One. Into thine hands bring together all three. Their treasure combined, aura preserved, will tame the Beast of the Sea. Thus, the world must turn to Ash."


	2. Chapter 1

Serena Bishop had always been one to be eternally optimistic but today was different. She had always felt lost, like she didn't know what she wanted to do in life. When she finally decided to become a Pokémon Performer, she had somehow imagined that she would win the Master Class on her first try and become Kalos Queen. But after talking to Palermo, former Kalos Queen and the famous movie producer who was responsible for the breakthrough of Hollywood's biggest actresses and most Kalos Queens, Serena realized that she still had a long way to go.

It had been bittersweet when Ash lost to Alain in the final of the Lumiose Conference. She felt disappointed because she, of course, wanted Ash to win. But she decided that if he lost he'd probably stick around her longer and she'd be able to comfort him. Of course, none of that happened. Ash had actually been extremely excited after saving Kalos, despite losing the Kalos Conference. He and Alain had struck up an extremely tight knit friendship in just the few short weeks that they had been hanging around Professor Sycamore's lab. By then, Serena could already feel Ash pulling away from her since the raven haired boy that she was infatuated with preferred spending time with Alain and Mairin who shared his interest for Pokémon battling. Alain and Ash trained together and Mairin was always there trying to copy them, fitting right in. And when they were done training, Serena was always ready to whisk Ash away, but he would always go talk on the PC to this man called Professor Oak, Gary Oak and though Serena had never seen her, she had heard Ash mention the name Misty way too many times for her to sleep well at night. It was all 'I'm so proud Misty has achieved her dreams' and 'I can't believe she won the Kanto Grand Festival? Does May know that they've become top coordinator in the same year?' and 'She was trained by Champion Wallace and Lance?' and 'Of course she's going to win against Lance. She'll be the strongest most beautiful Kanto champion ever, just like she was the best Kanto gym leader' which was always followed by the boy called Gary teasing Ash mercilessly.

Serena realized that she didn't really know anything about Ash's life beyond his travels in Kalos. She didn't know how he did in his other leagues, she didn't know the names of all of his Pokémon and she hadn't heard about any of his crazy adventures. He had no idea who any of his other friends were, though it sounded like he had a lot of them. Serena felt alone, discarded and easily irreplaceable. Just when she finally had the courage to confess her feelings to Ash, hoping it would bring her to the forefront of his mind again, she eavesdropped on a conversation between Ash and Pikachu. Apparently Ash was in love with the girl called Misty who was obviously some beautiful Gym leader, top coordinator, supermodel and future Champion. _Everything that I'm not,_ Serena thought.

And then came the day that Serena was dreading. Clemont announced that it was time for him to return to Lumiose City where he would find a suitable replacement for the gym before pursuing a career in technology and Bonnie was finally starting her journey, in safe company with Dedenne, a Vanillite from Professor Sycamore as well as Clemont's Heliolisk and Malamar. Serena recalled with fondness when Ash told Bonnie to try and find a boy from Hoenn called Max because he was just about to begin his journey now and the two of them could learn and protect each other together. _Exactly the type of thing my caring Ash would do_ , Serena had thought to herself at the time.

And then they split up, leaving Kalos in a jet provided by Professor Sycamore. Alain, Ash and Mairin had a good laugh together before they left, Alain promising to join Ash up in Pallet Town in a few weeks like they had planned. That's when Serena's stomach dropped. Ash had never expressed any desire for her to stay around for longer. In fact, the only reason why Serena was visiting with Ash was because his mother had practically forced it on Ash and also because Serena used the excuse of wanting Ash's advice about contests. Ash had acquiesced and cheerfully said that Misty would be around and so she would be able to ask for advice from a top coordinator and underwater ballet expert. Serena ignored the fact that she knew the beaming smile Ash had worn when saying that wasn't meant for her.

Now, Ash was stopped in Viridian's City Pokémon center to wait for one of his friends and to switch his Pokémon roster.

"I just can't wait to see some of my old friends. Plus, maybe I'll be able to get some training in for them while we're on our way back to Pallet. Besides, Gary might challenge me to a battle now that he's a temporary gym leader and we might run into Team Rocket so I better keep my best Pokémon with me," Ash explained distractedly to Serena before running to the PC to make the exchange.

With a wide smile on his face, an exciting Pikachu slurping on the small bottle of ketchup Nurse Joy had give him while perched on his shoulder, Ash transferred out Talonflame, Noivern, Hawlucha and Goodra who had come back to find him after the Kalos Crisis. With a firm resolute nod, Ash decided to keep Greninja with him just in case a new opportunity would arise for them to further strengthen their bond. With Pikachu as Ash's eternal companion, that left four spots on his team of six for Ash to fill and uncharacteristically, Ash was weighing his options carefully, his mind flashing back to the conversation he had with Alain, Mairin and the Hoenn champion Steven Stone.

'Most trainers struggle to find a balance between the extreme ends of the spectrum that most trainers fall into. Some are obsessed with strength, thinking that's the key to success as a trainer while others rely completely on their strategy, choosing to constantly raise new Pokémon in hopes for new beginnings. Both ends can be bad but most who fall into both of those categories are good trainers. But excellent trainers, the winners are the ones who find a balance with both,' Steven had told Ash, Alain and Mairin before Steven chose to address Ash, the boy who had the praise of all regional champions, personally.

'I've watched you compete in the leagues with completely different teams every time Ash,' Steven began, 'And every time you've impressed me. The bond you share with your Pokémon is something most people would dream of having and your skills as a trainer are ingenious, there is no doubt in my mind that you will go far, as you have already. However, you fall short of your own full potential because you disregard the need for brute strength. I fully believe in not forcing your Pokémon to do anything and not neglecting them because power isn't anything. But I really do think about which Pokémon you have really live for thrill of battling and which ones have no qualms and no limits about getting stronger," Steven said honestly and Ash had flinched but contemplated the champion's words carefully, thinking back to his previous losses. Ash had felt like vomiting when he realized that Steven was completely right. Of course, Steven had seen the expression of confusion on the young hero's face and so he decided to ask the million dollar question.

'Who have already proven to you that they have the brute strength, trust in your and the burning desire to succeed at the highest level? After you answer that question, there is room on your ultimate team to cover your strategic weaknesses. Make no mistakes, champions, elite four members, frontier brains… Make no mistake Ash, they all focus on intensely and brutally training a select few Pokémon out of the hundreds or dozens they've captured. You should train and love all your Pokémon but understand only a few of them have what it takes to reach the top.'

Ash had, of course, vehemently protested but Steven cut his arguments before Ash could even finish uttering them.

'All of your Pokémon fight alongside you because they love you and there's nothing wrong with that, in fact it's admirable and speaks volumes about the amazing trainer and person you are. But who would fight even if you didn't want to? Who wants to become the strongest? Who hungers for victory? When you understand this and when you've followed my advice, you'll find yourself challenging and holding your own against the Elite Four and maybe even a champion.'

Of course, the first name that had popped into his mind after Pikachu was his prideful Charizard who had even chose to remain in Charicific Valley to become the strongest of his species and fight battles that provided him more of a challenge than gym leaders that he would rough up too much. At that moment, Ash knew it was time for Ash to bring back the powerful orange dragon back permanently.

The third name Ash thought of was Sceptile who had been utterly disgusted after struggling against Darkrai and losing against Latios. Sceptile was very vocal about wanting to become the strongest Sceptile there was but Ash, at the time, hadn't known what to say. Now, Ash decided, he would fulfill both of their dreams.

The fourth name Ash thought of was Infernape. He hesitated when he realized that would mean he had two fire types on his team but then he thought of his conversations with Steven and Alain, deciding that it didn't matter. _Besides, Infernape is a dual fighting type and Charizard has the nature of a dragon and is a flying type. I'll play that up to differentiate their rolls in battles_ , Ash thought.

The fifth name Ash thought of when he thought of power was Snorlax. Albeit, Ash would need to have a conversation with Snorlax about his sleeping habits, but Snorlax had amazing defense that many of his other Pokémon didn't have. Snorlax was in.

The sixth name Ash thought of had been Greninja. Ash knew that their bond had much more potential that was currently being held back because Ash was the weaker of the two. So he would keep Greninja with him on his ultimate team and those were the six that Ash would be keeping on him on his trek back to Pallet Town and beyond. Ash felt a pang of guilt for not including his other Pokémon, which he voiced to Pikachu, who reassured him that they would understand and that he agreed with Ash's decisions.

His worries soothed, Ash decided he would add more of his Pokémon to this 'ultimate team' that Steven had suggested at a later date, after he studied the teams of the current champions. _It's time for me to stop making decisions on a whim and treating battling like it's all fun and games. I have to be smart about this if I want to become a Pokémon Master because there's still a long path ahead for me,_ Ash realized.

When he walked back into the lounge of the Pokémon center, Serena could see he was distracted. In fact, Ash said nothing for over an hour, Pikachu just as silent and still beside him until the visitor they were waiting for finally arrived.

"Hey Ashy Boy," Gary Oak called with a mischievous smile. "You'll be happy to know that I've been taking care of your secret girlfriend while you've been gone although she's got Champion Lance and Hoenn ex champion, current Elite Four and Top Coordinator looking after her too now."

"Wallace isn't Hoenn champion anymore? I thought he and Steven shared the title?" Ash asked, much to Serena's dismay, who was hoping to hear Ash deny the fact that he had a girlfriend.

Gary grimaced and shook his head. "No, President Goodshow decided Steven and Wallace would battle it out and the winner would become Champion while the loser would have to fight the other Hoenn Elite Four members. Steven, of course, won against Wallace. His Metagross didn't take a single hit so Wallace was without a doubt outclassed," Gary admitted the details of the non-televised battle and Ash gasped in shock. He hadn't realized there was such a difference in the power of the history's two most famous Hoenn champions. "Wallace then went on to win against Hoenn's Elite Four members Sidney, Phoebe, Glacia and Drake. Surprisingly enough the two who put up the most of a fight against Wallace were Phoebe and Glacia. So Sidney is off Hoenn's Elite Four and they've re arranged the order to Drake, Phoebe, Glacia followed by Wallace."

Ash swallowed, trying to absorb all the information. It always amazed him how rapidly things could change in the Pokémon battling world. Champions could fall in the blink of an eye which was what made Champions like Lance, Cynthia and Steven so admirable – they had remained on the throne for over a decade, a feat which was almost unheard of.

Serena couldn't follow the conversation between the boys at all. She was barely familiar with the league mechanics Elite Four of Kalos so she knew nothing about Hoenn. _If I'm going to be competing in contests in Kanto, Hoenn and Sinnoh like Palermo suggested I better learn more about the battling circuit too since the league is much bigger there than it is in Kalos. I don't want to seem clueless,_ Serena thought to herself.

"Hey wait a minute, you didn't deny that you were dating Misty," Gary said shocked and he watched fascinated as a deep red blush stains Ash's cheeks as he looks down. Gary felt tempted to tease Ash more, since this was the first time he didn't aggressively vocally deny his feelings for Misty, but he saw Serena's horrified expression and wisely kept his mouth shut. _Another girl that Ash has unknowingly enchanted… My lord, there must be something about his denseness that makes him charming to the girl,_ Gary thought, feeling sorry for Serena. _She's definitely very pretty but in more of a common way, not really exotic. She's definitely not a trainer, or maybe she's just a weaker one. She doesn't have that confident, self-assured glint in her eyes. She seems too girly… not that's not the issue since that Dawn girl is girly too but still fits in… She seems too subdued, naïve and insecure._

Gary knew that when Ash and Misty met they were more or less polar opposites. They constantly argued over trivial things with Misty pushing him but Gary knew Ash appreciated that. _I'm glad Ash-boy realizes that without Misty he definitely wouldn't be nearly as advanced as he is today so sorry short haired Blondie girl but you're out of luck. Ash was unknowingly in love long before he met you_ , Gary said silently.

"Hey I'm taller than you now," Ash exclaimed, breaking the uncomfortable silence and with shock, Gary realized Ash was right although there was barely an inch difference between them since Gary already was very tall.

"Man you must have gone through a growth spurt in Kalos," Gary remarked. "I heard you saved the day again in Kalos, you have to tell me what another pack of crazy criminals wanted this time. And you have to tell me everything you know about mega evolution – "

"Viridian City is under attack," A young trainer screamed as he ran into the Pokémon Center with his injured Pokémon and he was quickly followed by several dozen of other trainers who also carried their beaten Pokémon. "There's no stopping those angry Pokémon and their crushing the city we need the gym leader."

"What the hell?" Gary and Ash exclaimed in unison. In the safety of the Pokémon center, there had been no indication that anything was wrong, so the trainers were shocked. _Could it be Team Rocket?_ Gary thought, his mind going back to Team Rocket's secret laboratory in the Viridian City Gym that he had just become the official gym leader of to replace the Team Rocket boss who ran away. _Maybe they want to reclaim the stuff they left there… but the timing is a little off._

"Attention all citizens of Viridian City, this is your Officer Jenny. I ask that you hastily gather your most precious belongings and carefully make your way to the Pokémon Center. All trainers should make their way there so we can all defend each other while waiting for reinforcements to arrive," They heard Officer Jenny's voice on the intercom. Suddenly, hundreds of citizens, old and young, families and individuals, all scared and many injured made their way into the Pokémon center.

Ash frowned at seeing everyone panicking, not noticing that Serena also looked like a deer caught in headlights. _Thank god we were already in the Pokémon center. I definitely don't want to be around a threat that can cause so much damage,_ She shivered, watching the severely wounded trainers.

"Everyone needs to stop panicking!" Ash suddenly shouted, Pikachu letting loose a light thunderbolt to gather everyone's attention. "The elderly and the youth should gather in the back of the Pokémon Center. The wounded will be tended too by the nurses and hospital staff. Any experienced trainers should bring out their Pokémon and gather around the Pokémon Center."

"Don't be stupid and don't venture out on your own to neutralize the threat trainers. Everyone needs to stay together and merely defend if the Pokémon center is attacked," Gary added and everyone nodded in agreement, recognizing Gary Oak as the son of Professor Oak and their new gym leader while most of the trainers recognized and admired Ash for his high caliber league performances, especially as the runner-up and almost winner of the Lumiose Conference.

Serena watched horrified and nervous as Gary and Ash immediately approached Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy who were in an intense hushed conversation.

"You should release any of the non injured Pokémon you are keeping to see if they can help defend the Pokémon center and the people inside it if worst comes to worst," Gary ordered and Nurse Joy nodded briskly in understanding, the Chansey working rapidly to treat the wounded, soothe the panicked and follow Gary's command.

"Where is the threat coming from?" Ash asked suddenly.

"According to official report, the threat is coming from Mt. Hideaway. The abnormally large population of Pokémon, especially the Onix and Steelix are usually peaceful but they've suddenly ventured out of the mountain on a vicious rampage," Officer Jenny admitted, realizing that she could trust the two trainers since they were the most experienced battlers they currently had at their disposal.

"What has been done to start neutralizing the threat Jenny?" Nurse Joy asked, and Ash listened intently, not realizing that Gary looked beyond horrified.

"The police have surrounded the city and reinforcements from Pewter and Cerulean City have arrived with Vermillion City reinforcements arriving shortly. But we're waiting on G-men before doing anything serious. The good news is that all of the vicious Pokémon have all headed towards Viridian and have left Pallet Town alone, which allows us to focus our efforts in one area. Unfortunately, it seems like most of G-men's heavy hitters are occupied with similar crises in the other regions," Officer Jenny said, looking beyond worried. "The only thing we can hope to do now is protect and defend."

"Someone has to go Mt. Hideaway and figure out what happened to make the Pokémon so vicious," Ash exclaimed and Officer Jenny looked at him as if he was crazy.

"No matter what you say, we're going to the source of the problem," Gary interjected sternly. "Little Red was sent there by Lance to check things out while she was on her way to Pallet Town. I'm almost certain she's caught in the crossfire of all this," Gary told Ash.

"Misty is there all by herself?" Ash cried, his breathing labored with anxiety. _Calm down Ash, she's amazing with water Pokémon and she can hold her own against Lance. She's probably alright, she's always been better than even me in extreme situations but someone has got to go help her and that someone is going to be me._

"Alright but you boys be careful and leave protecting the people to us," Officer Jenny said determined, realizing that there was nothing she could do to stop the boys. Besides, as gym leader, Gary technically had more power than her anyways, despite his younger age. Officer Jenny was also horrified that somebody was stuck all alone in Mt. Hideaway, even if Misty was known to be one of Kanto's strongest and apparently sent by G-men, there was strength in numbers.

She watched the boys run out of the Pokémon center, followed by a blonde girl trailing nervously behind, and she said a little prayer.

"Status update from G-men please?" Officer Jenny said into her Interpol radio.

"Bruno is heading to Mt. Hideaway from the Orange Islands. Sabrina is also heading there from the Unova region. Agatha will be in Viridian shortly to help protect the people," A static voice said over the radio.

"Trainer Ash Ketchum accompanied by Gary Oak have just headed out for Mt. Hideaway, hoping to neutralize the threat. Apparently they will be joining Misty Waterflower who has already been there for over an hour," Officer Jenny told the agent.

"Roger. I'll pass on the mention to Lance," The voice said before cutting off the connection.

Officer Jenny sighed heavily in despair. It seemed like today was going to be one of those tragic days.

"Where are we going?" Serena shouted, struggling to keep up with the boys who were sprinting out of the Pokémon Center.

"To Mt. Hideaway," Gary shouted back.

"You should probably stay here and go back in the Pokémon Center to cheer up the people," Ash recommended distractedly.

"But I want to come with you," Serena lamented which automatically ticked Gary off.

"Look Blondie, we aren't going to be performing ballet dances in the mountain okay? We're going to be fighting high level Pokémon who have wrecked an entire city and critically injured dozens of high level Pokémon trainers. You'll do more good inside the Pokémon center, performing to entertain and distract people which you're good at," Gary said harshly and Serena nodded, keeping her head down as she watched Gary and Ash run away. _I'm not going to leave you to fight this alone Ash,_ She vowed to herself. _I'll follow you later._

"Go Charizard, Greninja, Sceptile, Infernape, Snorlax," Ash called out his Pokémon to warn them of the severe situation they were in and Gary did the same with his Blastoise, Arcanine, Umbreon, Nidoking, Nidoqueen and Alakazam. "We're going to be heading to a dangerous mountain where there are vicious Pokémon who are wrecking and attacking the cities. We need to do our best to protect each other, figure out what's wrong and help my best friend Misty who is already there all alone. The two trainers smiled when their Pokémon cheered enthusiastically, ready to help their trainers, despite acknowledging the severity and danger of the situation. Ash was thankful that he had traded his Kalos team for his more experienced and skilled battlers. He felt encouraged by Gary's also strong team fighting by his side.

"I'll get Alakazam to teleport us to Mt. Hideaway in the heart of the chaos so you'll stay out of your Pokéball to defend right away. Try and Misty Alakazam… oh and stay alive everyone, even if it's the last thing you do," Gary said sarcastically before they vanished in thin air.

Immediately, they could tell that they were in the middle of a battle as they heard the sounds of pain, anger, determination and Misty's voice calling orders in the distance as the air rushed around them.

"Oh hey guys, come to join the party?" Misty called cheerfully, on the back of her Gyarados as the boys and their Pokémon opened their eyes, a little disoriented. She wasn't too alarmed, used to Gary teleporting with his Alakazam and she suppressed the joy she felt at seeing Ash again. "You might want to, you know, ATTACK! And for god sakes, no Earthquake attacks no matter how effective they are!"

Immediately, the enthusiastic Charizard headed straight for the most vicious looking Steelix, blasting them with his best Flare Blitz, Inferno, Heat Wave and Flamethrower attacks while skillfully flying and dodging out of the way of a multitude of attacks. Greninja immediately headed after the rampaging Onix, sneaking up on them with the new Shadow Sneak attack he learned so he could blast them with Water Shuriken and Hydro Pump before avoiding their retaliation with Double Team and fast maneuvering.

Sceptile and Infernape decided to work together with Sceptile blasting Solar Beam, Leaf Storm and Leaf Blade attacks and recharging with Mega Drain while Infernape used Fire Blast, Close Combat and Overheat. Snorlax was an insurmountable wall, waiting for Pokémon to come close and attack him, barely feeling a thing while retaliating with a variety of attacks including his preferential Hyper Beam in between the mix.

Ash didn't even have time to praise his Pokémon on learning so many new and amazing attacks on their own because he had to command Pikachu, who was at a type disadvantage, but had chosen to stay beside and protect his trainer if any of the furious Pokémon dared to come too close.

"An electric type who can damage ground type Pokémon," Misty said admiringly. "Lance never believed me when I told him. Of course, your Pikachu never has been ordinary."

"Who knew a mountain could have so many freaking giant Onix and Steelix! There are a hundred in Viridian and four times as many here. No wonder Bruno likes to train here," Gary exclaimed, ordering his six Pokémon. Arcanine was aiding Charizard, Blastoise joined Misty's fearsome aquatic wall, Umbreon and Alakazam liked Greninja's sneaky strategy and joined him while Nidoking and Nidoqueen were fighting and defending the trainers back to back.

The trainers were so busy with the fighting, watching satisfied as more and more Pokémon calmed down and fainted before new enraged Pokémon would fill their places.

"Can't argue with this too much since if we look at it the glass half full way, it's like an intense impromptu training exercise… but the life and death version of one," Gary snickered to mask his concern as his Pokémon got more and more tired as the hours went by. He was amazed that Misty's Pokémon were visibly tired but their attacks weren't weakened. _I guess that's what happens when your gym had a reputation for being weak because you sisters ran it and you have two dozen challengers a day because trainers still think it's an easy gym. Of course they'd be proven wrong fairly quickly with Misty. Ash…_ Gary thought, staring at his Charizard who looked like he was enjoying every minute of the battling, used to the non-stop battling pace due to his years in the Charicific Valley. Sceptile was recharging constantly with Mega Drain, Snorlax could attack in his sleep, Infernape's Blaze ability has activated, and Greninja was feeding off Ash's energy and adrenaline while Pikachu was just Pikachu.

 _Definitely need to work on my endurance training if we get out of this alive_ , Gary thought to himself, noticing how the Pokémon just seemed to be getting more vicious despite the number of conscious Pokémon dwindling.

 _This is bad…_ Misty thought, ordering her Gyarados to fry them all with an unexpectedly powerful flamethrower attack, even by Ash's Charizard's standards. If this were normal circumstances, G-men reinforcements would have arrived a few hours ago and since no official reinforcements had arrived, Misty knew that other parts of the world were being attacked just as bad, or even worse, than this.

 _Misty is so beautiful when she's battling, I wonder if I should tell her about my feelings… or maybe she already knows? I hope she likes me back… I think she does. According to Pikachu she definitely does and I've been a dense potato all these years,_ Ash thought, letting himself get distracted which would have been fatal if he didn't have Pikachu watching his back. He trusted his other Pokémon to defend without his guidance and he only had to order, even then very rarely, so he was focusing on trying to find the source of the vicious Pokémon's fury.

He easily scaled the rock of the mountain like a human Mankey, trusting the others to cover for him, which they did, and he found a small opening under the rocky wall which he slipped under. Frowning when he found himself in what seemed to be a secret little chamber in the rock of the mountain, he tried to no avail to decipher the ancient runes that were written all over the walls of the chamber.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked curiously, as he climbed up into the chamber after his trainer, observing the curious room, his long ears twitching when he felt something strange. Running straight for where his Pokésenses were guiding, he firmly pushed his paw into the looser part of rock in the wall and a secret passage way which led to another chamber in the wall was opened.

"What the –" Ash said out loud when he saw the shimmering blue jewel, glowing a deep blue light that filled the cavern. The jewel itself looked as old as the mountain and relatively untouched. However, around the jewel were several modern wires that seemed to be zapping the jewel with bolts of electricity, causing the jewel to glow less blue and fade out quickly before their very eyes.

Ash ran for the blue jewel, noticing right away that the suspicious looking wires were probably the cause of the all the trouble here, especially if the jewel was somehow the heart of the mountain. _It wouldn't be the first time_ , Ash thought to himself, thinking back to the events of the Tree of Beginning and the similar blue crystals that filled the Tree. He tried to untangle the wires but was propelled backwards when he was zapped with a high voltage of electricity.

"Why Pikachu, that was almost worse than your angry electric shocks," Ash moaned, cradling his hand as he tried his best to catch his breath. Pikachu, dismayed at seeing his trainer and best friend in pain, immediately decided to zap the electric wires with his own thunder attack. "No wait Pikachu don't," Ash protested, fearing that Pikachu's attacks would crack the vital crystal but it was the wires who seemed to smoke a little after Pikachu's electric shocks.

"Alright Pikachu, way to go," Ash exclaimed. "Hit it with an iron tail," Ash ordered before he and Pikachu started cheering with excitement as the electric wire seemed to snap off the jewel. Carefully, Ash reached down to grab the wires, sighing in relief when he wasn't zapped again, and slipped the wires into his pocket. _Evidence,_ he thought to himself, not wanting to move the seemingly immovable crystal just in case it would cause the entire mountain to collapse or something.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu shouted, alarmed that the crystal was still fading out despite the removal of the wires.

Ash was horrified when he saw what Pikachu had first noticed and he started panicking.

"Oh no, what should I do? What should I do? We're all going to die, the mountains going to collapse," Ash exclaimed, his voice high with hysteria, and he didn't even notice that Pikachu had reached out and placed his hands on the crystal until he felt himself become surrounded by an eerie bright blue light as he felt small trickles of his energy fade away.

Alarmed when he saw his trainer and the crystal, he quickly pulled his Ash's hands away from the crystal again. After the bright blue light dissipated, the crystal seemed completely fine again, glowing peacefully and serenely. Ash vaguely heard the sounds of hard battling in the mountain two chambers away die down but Ash was too preoccupied with his thoughts to really notice it. _Aura_ , Ash realized, _the crystal is related to aura._

"So the mountain isn't going to collapse," Ash sighed in relief as Pikachu ran around the chamber nervously.

"Pikachu, Pika, Pikapi!" Pikachu yelled again and Ash groaned, slapping his face palm onto his forehead.

"What now Pikachu," Ash groaned, making his way to where Pikachu was waving his hands wildly, looking down at Pikachu was so panicked about. _Oh my god,_ Ash thought to himself, gasping in horror, sweat trickling down his face. "Pikachu… Is that what I think it is?" Ash gulped and by Pikachu's wide eyed horrorstruck expression, Ash knew his assumption was right. He glanced down at the package of explosives. He had once seen something similar in Iron Island, Sinnoh but back then he was in the company of Riley and his Lucario who knew how to stay calm, disable explosives and put up an aura shield. Ash squinted down and saw a timer was attached to the package of explosives, beeping a faded red light with the time 2:00 minutes.

"Holy shit, we need to get out of here!" Ash said, swearing around in an uncharacteristic move. Pikachu pointed out all the other explosives layered around the ceiling of the chamber and as he and Pikachu slipped out of the cavern back to the open mountain space where his friends were still battling a few defensive and strong Pokémon, he noticed that there were more explosive packages wired around the dark corners of the cave that they wouldn't have seen.

"Do any of you know how to disable around 50 bombs in less than 30 seconds?" Ash asked Misty and Gary as he ran.

"Of course not Ash," Gary scoffed before the hairs on the back of his neck prickled when he saw Ash's panicked expression. "Are you saying?"

"Yes that's exactly what I'm saying. This mountain is a ticking time bomb!" Ash said hysterically, grabbing onto Misty's hand and pulling her to him, unconsciously squeezing her tightly in his arms.

"Oh no, we have to save the Pokémon!" Misty shouted and if they were any other type of situation, Misty would've blushed and reveled in the feeling of being embraced by Ash's strong arms.

"Forget about the Pokémon, we have to save ourselves. The Pokémon will be fine since there's only rock types in here, they'll be fine when the mountain collapses, I've seen it before," Gary reassured Misty, also panicked.

"We're never going to make it out on time," Ash wailed. _If we die Misty will never even know that I love her and I've loved her for five years. I loved her those two years we travelled together, I loved her when I travelled with May for a year, I loved her when I travelled for half a year with Dawn and another half a year with Iris and I definitely loved her when I travelled a year with Serena,_ Ash despaired, finally confessing to himself what he had known for several months now.

"Gary, get your Alakazam to teleport you and your Pokémon out. Starmie will teleport Ash and his Pokémon and my Slowbro will teleport me and my Pokémon out," Misty ordered.

"Roger that," Gary nodded and all three trainers of their Pokémon vanished from thin air as they were suddenly teleported to the base of the mountain. "Now it's time to run!" Gary said as he and Ash starting running as far away as they could from the base of the mountain, not even noticing that all the Pokémon that used to be attacking everything and anything before now seemed to be perfectly calm.

"Where's Misty?" Ash suddenly cried out when he realized Misty wasn't following them. "Misty!" Ash screamed at the top of his lungs when he noticed Misty running back into the mountain that was going to explode any second now.

Unbeknownst to them, Misty had been running away when she noticed a small blonde girl in the distance making her way into the mountain. _I don't know who she is but I have to save her_ , Misty thought determinedly, running towards the girl hoping beyond hope that she'd be able to save them both in time to make it out of this alive. Misty's Golduck and Starmie loyally followed their trainer, anticipating that maybe their psychic powers would be able to help.

Just as Misty reached the mountain range, Golduck levitated the clueless blonde girl in his psychic grasp and starting pulling her towards them. Misty, happy that the girl was safe now, starting running back as fast as she could. Her Pokémon had starting pulling ahead of her, the blonde girl trapped by psychic in tow, when the mountain exploded and pieces of rock came tumbling down. Misty felt herself get slammed down onto the ground as she reflexively covered her head with her arms before it all went black.

* * *

In the Hoenn region's LaRousse City, May and Drew were spending one of their rare relaxing days lounging around in the living room watching performance replays from the Kanto, Hoenn and Sinnoh Grand Festivals when the national broadcast was interrupted.

"Citizens of Hoenn, the entire region is now on lockdown. Please make your way to the nearest Pokémon center or remain locked tight in the security of your homes," The voice of Officer Jenny announces as the TV screen cuts off to a red warning sign before an official news broadcast starts.

"Breaking news: We have news of many crises throughout the Kanto and Johto regions however the one we have the most information on at the moment is the attack on Viridian City that has resulted in hundreds of injured and four official deaths thus far. Viridian City in the Kanto Region has been wrecked by a hundreds of large, vicious Pokémon that reportedly came from Mount Hideaway between Viridian City and Pallet Town. In the hopes of stopping the vicious Pokémon, Viridian Gym Leader Gary Oak, blossoming Pokémon researcher and son of the renown Professor Oak, Pokémon League rising star trainer and the runner-up of the Lumiose Conference Ash Ketchum as well as Kanto's jewel, ex Cerulean Gym Leader, Champion Lance and Wallace's protégé and Kanto top coordinator Misteria Waterflower bravely went to investigate the root of the problem itself."

Horrified, May and Drew turned to each other. Wordlessly, Drew called out his Clefable to teleport them there, knowing May wanted to go help her friends. They disappeared from the living room, leaving the TV on to continue its reports to an empty room.

"The heroes successfully defeated hundreds of the attacking Pokémon who eventually calmed down suddenly moments before the entire mountain collapsed for unknown reasons. Saffron Gym Leader Sabrina and Elite Four Bruno will be investigating the cause of the mountain explosion to see if there were any survivors and if not, if we can salvage the bodies. Reporting to you more news from the Goldenrod Radio Tower, it's DJ Mary."


End file.
